The reality of today’s working production environment is that we use a lot of hard drives. Many of us who move around a lot use small mobile drives for both audio and video needs. With that in mind, Sony has released a 1 TB version of its PSZHB1T with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connectivity, priced at $149.99 street.

Unlike most of the other drives I carry around, this enclosure was definitely built for roadwork. The 5,500-RPM drive is powered via USB or Firewire bus power and the enclosure is protected in a soft, ‘spongy’ plastic shell. I like that the two inputs (USB and Firewire) both have individual plastic flaps covering them, which helps keep any foreign materials out.

Included in the useful, clear hardcase are the drive, Thunderbolt cable and USB 3.0 cable. At first, I didn’t think I would put the drive back in the box each time, but then realized how useful it is for my mobile work, adding the extra layer of protection to my data and keeping the cables organized.

It’s hard to believe how critical this is when doing mobile work, and I see video guys scrambling all the time to keep their storage in order. With the HB1T, I was surprised how much I enjoyed the sense of reliability and comfort you get by having the extra protection on the drive case, the enclosure itself and even over the exposed ports. Sony has noted that the SSD (Solid State) RAID version will be available soon, and that interests me greatly. In the meantime, I plan on picking up a few more of these small HB1Ts for my roadwork.